Attaching device.



No. 848,895. PATENTED APR. 2, 1807.

W. GILMARTIN.

- ATTACHING DEVICE.

APPLIGATION, FILED MAY 1, 1906.

4 r athzmug UNrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ATTACHING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 2, 1907.

Application filed May 1, 1906. Serial No. 314,712.

To It whom It uny concern" Be it known that 1, MICHAEL W. GILMAR- TIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attaching Devices, of which the following is a specification. 7

My invention relates to attaching devices or hooks such as are used in hoisting and transportation apparatus, and consists, more specifically stated, in the combination of a body member having a latch so pivoted therein that while it opens readily to admit the object to be secured it closes automatically to retain the object and remains closed until manually opened.

My invention is especially designed for use in connection with the hoisting and lowering of boats onto and off of ships; but obviously it is equally applicable for other uses, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to its use 011 any particular connection. Some of its other applications will be herein after referred to.

l will-first describe the invention as embodied in a detachable boat-hook, which, as I have stated, is the principal object for which it was designed. This form of the invention is shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a closed boat-hook with the fall secured thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section thereof, taken'on the line :20 0c of Fig. 2. Figs. dand 5 show other applications of my invention.

In Figs. 1-3, 1 represents the fall, from which is suspended, as by the link or eyebolt 2, the bolt 3, provided at its lower end with a head 4. 5 represents the body of the hook, which is secured to the boat, preferably to the keel, in any desired manner. The body of the hook'is provided with a transverse aperture 6 and in addition to the said transverse aperture with a vertical slot 7, running out at one end, so as to leave the two checks 8, between which is pivoted on the pin 9 the latch 10, the end 11 of which, projecting downwardly outside the body of the hook, is made heavier than the forward end 12, which projects into the closed end of the slot 7, so that the latch is normally maintainedin the closed position. .(Shown in Fig. 1.) The forward end 12 of the latch 10 is beveled, as shown at 18, and abuts when in its said the shank of the bolt 3 when the latter is engaged with the hook.

lVhen it is desired to attach the fall to the boat, the headed bolt 3 is simply pressed down upon the inner end 12 of the latch 10, whereby .said end is depressed, permitting the head 4 of the bolt to pass downwardly into the apertured part of the body. The latch then swings into the position shown in Fig. 1, owing to the greater weight of its arm 11. The bolt is thus securely held in the hook, for while it is free to move slightly therein it cannot become detached, even when the strain is taken off the fall, as when, for instance, the boat is lifted on a wave, because the latch remains always closed except when it is positively opened. Then it is desired to cast off from the fall, the latch 10 must be swung on its pivot so as to raise its end 1.1 and lower the end 12. This is preferably accomplished by a lanyard. 17, attached to said arm 1], as at 18, another or the same lanyard running to the hook in the other end of the boat, so that the boatman can conveniently detach both hooks from an intermediate position in the boat each at its proper time. It will thus be seen that I have provided a strong, simple, and efficient device for the purpose intended, and it will also be apparent, as has been stated, that it is not limited in its application to the hoisting and lowering of boats, but is adapted for use in various other relations. For example, the hook may take the form shown in Fig. 4, where it is shown as attached to a pair of carrying-tongs 20, such asar'e used in the transportation of round articles, like ammunition or torpedoes. Of course instead of tongs the hook may carry a ring or any other attaching means. The hook 21 in this case is shown as an open eye, having the latch 22 pivoted in one arm and abutting against a bevel surface on the other arm. The oper ation is the same in all respects as that above described, and it will be noticed that in both of the forms shown the hook can swivel around the supporting-bolt 3. In Fig. 4 the bolt may be attached to a trolley.

Fig. 5 shows my invention applied toa rowlock. The opening in the hook 25 is IIO made somewhat wider in this case to admit the ear and is provided with the depending shank 26 to engage the usual aperture in the gunwale of the boat. The latch 27 is similar to the latches 10 and 22 of the other forms, except that its inner arm 28 is not slotted and need not extend entirely across the opening. The oar is placed in the rowlock by laying it on the inner arm of the latch, which tips to allow the car to enter and then swings back to its normal position. The oar is thus retained in the rowlock until the outer arm 29 of the latch is manually raised to bring said latch into the dotted-line position, when the oar can be withdrawn.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim is 1. A device of the class described, compris- I ing a slotted body, a latch pivotally mounted therein, the outer end of said latch being heavier than the inner end, the front face of the latter normally engaging the end of the slot in the body, corresponding recesses in the front face of the said inner end and in the end of the slot in the body,-and a headed bolt ada ted to be held in said recesses, with its 1162K beneath the inner end of the latch.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a slotted body, a latch pivotally mounted therein and normally held with its inner end in engagement with the end of the slot in the body, recesses in the front face of said inner end and in the end of said slot, and a headed bolt adapted to be passed into said body by swinging the inner end of said latch downwardly and then to be secured therein by the return of said latch to its normal position.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a hoisting-rope carrying a headed bolt at its lower end, of a hook adapted to engage said bolt and comprising a slotted body, a latch pivoted near one of the upper corners of the same, the inner end of said latch abutting against the end of the slot in the body when in its normal position, the outer end of said latch being heavier than said inner end so as to keep the latter normally raised, the front face of said inner end being recessed or slotted to receive the shank of said bolt and maintain the same securely l locked in the hook with its head below the inner end of the latch.

4. A detachable boathook, comprising a slotted and apertured body adapted to be secured to the boat and a latch hung therein so as to open to admit the head of a bolt and to close around the shank of said bolt.

5. A detachable boat-hook, comprising a body adapted to be secured to a boat and having a vertical slot therein, a latch pivotally supported to swing in said slot and to normally engage with its front beveled face a corresponding beveled surface at the inner end of the slot in the body .corresponding recesses in said beveled face and surface, whereby headed bolt can be inserted into the hook by pressing it down on the inner end of said latch and will be securely held in place by the swinging back into place of said latch, and means to open said latch.

6. A detachable boat-hook, comprising a transversely-apertured and verticallyslotted body adapted to be secured to the bolt, a latch pivoted to swing vertically in said body, one arm of said latch projecting downwardly outside ofsaid body and the other arm normally abutting against a beveled surface at the inner end of said slot, the end face of said inner arm being slotted or recessed to receive the shank of a headed bolt attached to the fall, and means to raise said first-mentioned arm to release said bolt.

7. A hook comprising a body open at the top and provided with means whereby it can be attached to an object, a latch pivoted at one side of said opening and adapted to normally close the same, the inner arm of said latch being apertured to receive the end of a headed bolt carried by the hoisting or transporting means, and the outer arm of said latch being of greater weight than the inner arm, so as to normally keep the latch in its closed positionf In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specificationin the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MICHAEL XV. GILMARTIN.

\Vitnesses I C. S. SNIFFEN, E. D. RUssELL. 

